nose glasses

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]
A pair of rimless nose glasses
A woman wearing nose glasses

Alternative forms

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

nose glasses pl (plural only)

  1. (historical) A style of eyeglasses without earpieces, often attached to a cord or ribbon allowing them to be hung around the neck.
    Synonyms: pince-nez, pinch-nose glasses
    • 1825, William Henry Pyne (as Ephraim Hardcastle), The Twenty-Ninth of May, London: Knight and Lacey, Volume 1, Chapter 4, p. 105,[1]
      Old Waller, elbowing his way through the crowd, planted himself right before his shop, putting on his nose-glasses, and measuring the amount of the damage;
    • 1885, Vanity Fair, Volume 33, p. 140, “Diary of Rasper, M.P.,”[2]
      Speaker, nervously twiddling nose-glasses, instinctively stretches out hand for new Procedure Rules, like Old Bailey Judge fumbling for black cap.
    • 1929, Dashiell Hammett, The Dain Curse[3], New York: Vintage, published 1972, Part 2, Chapter 10, p. 81:
      There was blood on the altar steps, and on the floor below, where his noseglasses, unbroken, on the end of their black ribbon, lay.
    • 1964, Hortense Calisher, Extreme Magic[4], Boston: Little, Brown, page 124:
      Raising his head, Mr. Elkin took off his noseglasses and rubbed at the inflamed prints on either side of his nose.
  2. A pair of eyeglasses (or eyeglass frames) to which is attached a hollow false nose, worn as a humorous disguise.
    • 2007, Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life[5], New York: Scribner, published 2008, page 40:
      The magic shop purveyed such goodies as the arrow-through-the-head and nose glasses, props I turned into professional assets later on.